Lincoln Property Co., a national real estate services firm that manages One Burlington Business Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, for an equity firm, turned to Schneider Electric for assistance when the owners decided to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The Challenge

One Burlington Business Center is a multi-tenant property that is strategically located along the high-tech corridor just north of Boston in a very desirable area due to its proximity to Logan International Airport, Boston’s financial district, world-class hospitals and universities, upscale shopping, and fine dining.

With its “saw tooth” architectural design, two dramatic four-story lobbies connect three buildings. Built in 1982, the property’s design offers a versatile range of floor layouts that maximize the generous window lines and the number of corner offices available to tenants.

Lincoln Property Co.’s chief concern was HVAC, which is usually tenants’ number one issue. According to Sam Ajanaku, assistant vice president, Lincoln Property Co., “If you don’t have reliable air conditioning and heating, tenants will want to move out.”

Motivated to continue differentiating this property in a highly competitive market, the management company has taken steps over the years to enhance its energy efficiency. For instance, the Schneider Electric I/NET™ building management system and other efficient components have been installed to meet Energy Star® requirements.

When the property owners decided to pursue LEED certification, Lincoln Property Co. turned again to Schneider Electric. Working through a Schneider Electric branch office in neighboring Andover, Massachusetts, the project to take this property to the next level of energy efficiency began.

The Solution

One Burlington Business Center has three rooftop units with direct expansion (DX) and 300 terminal units with electric reheat. Since 2008, the facility has been changing out terminal units and adding I/NET direct digital controls (DDCs) to the field equipment, using the existing I/NET system to integrate to the tenant boxes after converting each space.

The new DDC system unmasked some issues that the management team wanted to address. After careful analysis, Schneider Electric recommended that the facility transition to SmartStruxure solution, powered by StruxureWare™ Building Operation software. SmartStruxure solution is designed to monitor, measure, and optimize energy performance while saving energy and money.

The transition to SmartStruxure solution allowed the tenants of One Burlington Business Center to realize their energy efficiency goals without sacrificing the previous investment in Schneider Electric solutions. The management team appreciated being able to maintain what was working and to incorporate new technologies to keep this property competitive in its market.

Important requirements for the new system included short- and long-term trending, remote access, and more robust scheduling. SmartStruxure solution gave the management team access to those capabilities and other cutting-edge features. Since the upgrade was largely software-based, the transition occurred quickly and without causing any discomfort or disruption to tenants.

The customized SmartStruxure solution that Schneider Electric installed at this facility focused on two major areas: tenant comfort and energy efficiency. Although these two areas have traditionally been considered opposites, SmartStruxure solution achieves both.

The Bottom Line

Prior to the transition to SmartStruxure solution, tenants controlled the temperature in the space. Frequently they changed set points throughout the day, which resulted in the HVAC system running non-stop. SmartStruxure solution enabled the management team to set temperature boundaries with a chosen range for tenants and to automatically turn the system on/off at chosen times.

Today, the company keeps trends of the temperatures in 12 zones to share with tenants. These changes have already resulted in a dramatic decrease in energy costs and tenant complaints.

The management team at One Burlington Business Center appreciates the new system’s robust trending capabilities, because attaining LEED certification requires a lot of reporting with detailed, short- and long-term trending information.

SmartStruxure solution allows the team to trend any point in the system simply by dragging and dropping it onto a trend chart. Since the system automatically saves the change of value (COV) for every hardware input and output point, One Burlington Business Center can trend anything, anytime.

For more information, visit www.schneider-electric.com/us.

Publication date: 9/8/2014

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!